Largest free COVID-19 testing site in Texas opens tomorrow
5,000 COVID-19 tests will be conducted daily for nearly week starting tomorrow in Edinburg.
The city announced Tuesday morning the Department of Health and Human Services will provide free COVID-19 testing at Bert Ogden Arena for the public starting tomorrow.
Edinburg’s Bert Ogden Arena. Courtesy image.
Testing at the arena, located at 4900 South I-69C, will start Wednesday July, 8 and run through Tuesday, July 14 from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm. It is open and free to the public.
The “surge testing” was announced by the HHS Tuesday as part of an effort to temporarily increase federal support to communities where there has been a recent and intense level of new cases and hospitalizations related to the ongoing outbreak.
Testing will also be conducted in several locations in Florida and Louisiana. The Edinburg testing site is the only one in the surge testing site in the state according to the HHS.
“The three jurisdictions identified are seeing significant increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and could potentially benefit from additional opportunities to identify new cases, especially for people who are asymptomatic,” the HHS said in a release. “HHS, in partnership with eTrueNorth and each of the local communities, will perform surge testing by offering 5,000 tests per-city per-day, at no charge to those tested. The temporary surge testing sites will be live anywhere from five to 12 days. Across the nation, the largest increases in COVID-19 positivity rates continue to be in the 18 to 29 age group; however, there are also upticks in young people under 18 and in people aged 30 to 39.”
Testing at the surge locations is available to individuals five years and older – including those experiencing symptoms; those who believe they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 coronavirus; and anyone who is worried about possibly having the virus. Individuals seeking testing do not need to be a resident of the community where these testing sites are located. Individuals under 18 years old must have a parent or legal guardian present to consent to testing.
You do not have to have symptoms to be tested but you must pre-register online before testing and print out a voucher.
It should take between three and five days for someone who is tested to get their results and test results will be provided by email notification (individuals will be required to log back into the website to view their results). There is not a phone number to call for results.
This testing site is made possible through a collaboration with the City of Edinburg, State of Texas, HHS, Hidalgo County, and our partners at Bert Ogden Arena and HEB Park, the city said ina news release.
